Vehicle-wheel.



E. K, BAKER.

VEHICLE WHEEL, APPLxcArlon man JULY 7, isla.

www?

aented Nov. 2, i915,

2 SHEETS-SHEET E K, BAKER.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLxcATIoN man luLY 7. i913.

Patented Nov. '2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2i gms if ffii? M UNITED STATES PATET orare ERL-E K. BAKER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL RM COMPAN, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten nav. e, 1ere.

i Application led .Tuly 7, 1913. Serial iTo. 777,638.

To all whom -z't may concern Be it` known that I, EnLn K. BAKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Veliicle-lllheels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in vehicle wheels and has special reference to improvements in wheels of the demountable rim type.

T he object of my invention is to simplify and cheapen the construction of demountable rims and complementary wheels and to provide a wheel wherein the rim Shall be provided witha vcomplete circumferential seat for each side of the rim wheeLthe wheel carrying or provided with av fixed circumferential rim seat at one side,

f and the rim being held at the opposite side of the wheel by means of Va loose Wedging split ring adapted to be inserted between the felly of the Wheel and the rim, and means for holding the split ring in position. My invention also consists in a demountable one-piece tire-rim having two spaced wedging circumferential surfaces on its` inner periphery and a complementary wheel the wheelhaving,r a continuousrigid Wedgingrirn seat at one side-complementary to one of the wedging Surfaces of the rim, and a split wedging ring adapted to he inserted between the felly and rim to provide a edging rim seat at'theother side complementary to the other wedding` surface lof the rim. and means carried by the wheel for holding; the split rim in position.

lily invention also consists in the several features of construction, and in the combi4v nations and arrangements of parts. whereby '.ee above and other objects are attained.I and all as hereinafter described and {')articulzn'ly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention will be more, readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which:

Filgure l is a side elevation of a wheel `embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an. en-

larged transverse section of the wheel on the linehQ-Q of Fig.' l; Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the wheel on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; Fig. l is an inner view of the split rim showing the means of tying the ends of the rim together; Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 2 showing a. modified form of my invention. For the purpose ofsecuring demountable rims of some forms upon wheels, it is necessary to provide an annular space betweei'i the rim and the wheel for the insertion of suitable wedging or holding devices, and it is one of the particular objects of my invention to provide a rim and a complementary wheel so constructed that this space between the rim and the wheel shall be closed against the entrance of dirt and water, and for the further purpose that the completed 'wheel may present a. more ir' ished appearance.

Many demountable rim Constructions have beenv devised wherein a plurality of relatively short wedging devices are spaced .around the-folly of the wheel and are adapted to clamp or hold a demountable rim in position on, the wheel. ln such construction, however. the annular space which rcceives the wedging devices remains open loetween the devices, and consequently the space between the rim and the wheel soon fills with mud and presents an unsightly appearance. By means of my invention l eliminate these f 1ijectionable features, and provide a rim and complementary wheel of such construction that the rim is firmly held upon two spaced weddingr seats, one at each sideof the wheel, the rim contacting substantially throughout its circumference with the rim seats. and thus closing;- the space between the wheel and the rim, and the wheel therefore presents a completed or linished appearance.

l shallfdeseribe my invention as being related to' an automobile wheel, composed of a wheel proper A. which comprises a hub al, of usual form. a telly n, and spokes n?. rThe felly provided with a continuous metallic folly band n and this 'lellyband receives and supports a tire rim l wmh is adapted to receive and hold the tire C.

In the form of my invention illustrated, in Figs. l and 2, the tire C is what is known as the straight side" or Dunlop form, and the rim B is formed to receive and hold such a tire, that is, it is provided withy a central straight or cylindrical middle portion o1, which merges at each edge into the portions o which are inclined outwardly at a slight angle and the rim is provided with integral outwardly extending tire-retaining ianges Z2 which terminate at their outer edges in outwardly curved edges b".

For the purpose of facilitating the mounting and demounting of the tire, I split the rim atone point If' of its circumference on a diagonal line, as shown in Fig. 4, and' I. connect the two ends of the rim together by means of a bridge plate L which engages with radially projecting pins Z carried by the rim. I preferably provide the bridge plate and the rim with suitable registering openings bs and ib respectively to receive the tire valve c1, and the felly band. and felly are alsol provided with suitable holes for receiving the valve stem. Preferably the pins 217 are long enough to project through suitable openings provided in the felly band and they thereby serve. to prevent relative circumferential movement between the rim and the wheel and thereby prevent the bending or distortion of the valve stem. I provide a circumferential wedging or tapered rim seat a5 on the fely band at the rear side of the wheel.. This scat extends completely around the wheel and, in the form of my. invention illustrated in Figs. l and 2, I provide ka coperatingcircumferential rib or ridge 61 on the inner periphery of the rijn adapted to contact with the wedgingseat a on the wheel and thereby support the rear side of the rim. Preferably I provide the forward edge of the rim with a similar tapered rib or ridge Z1 symmetrically spaced from the rib bw and arranged adjacent to the forward edge of the rim. The spacing of these ribs provides a central channel or groove 512 upon the inner periphery of the rim adapted to receive the bridge plate D. By this construction the plate b serves the double purpose of holding the rim against expansion and holding the ends of the rim in alineme'nt. The main portion a. of the felly band is relatively thin, and an annular space 0.7 is thereby provided between the body of the rim and the folly band. F or the purpose o f supporting the forward edge of the'rim, I provide a`wedging ring as which is split or cut apart at one point a? of its circumference for facilitating its entrance into and removal from its operating position. This wedging ring as substantially lits the outer periphery of the felly band and is provided on its inner edge with a wedging seat .10 corresponding to the seat a."-at the opposite side of the wheel and adapted to in turn force the nini against the wedging tact between the ri and the wheel at each side. I force this wedging ring upon the wheel and against the vrim by means of a plurality of clamping devices E spaced around the felly of the wheel and each comprising a rotatable bolt c1 and a fixed nut 62. The nut is preferably secured upon the 'rear part of the felly and the bolt is adapted to be screwed into the nut to clamp the ring in position. Beifeath the head of the` bolt I mount a rotatable clamp e having a projectiei e4 at one side Aadapted to extend outwardly and contact with the ring as, consequently when the bolt is operated to force it into the nut c2 the clamp c is forced against the wedging ring a? and the ring is forced seat (1,5 and thus prtjtrlxuce a tight joint or coninto wedging position between the fellyl band and the rim. The split in the ring facilitates the entrance and removal of the ring for the reason that the ring is capable of adjusting itself tightly between th'efelly band and the rim and is thereby capable of contacting closely with each of the members which would not be the ease were the ring non-split; in other words, the ring a? is contractible to t the telly band, and is eX- l pansible to free it from Contact therewith when it is desired to remove the ring from its clamping Iposit-ion.

In Fig, 5 fl have shown a slight modiiication of my invention wherein the device is provided with a wedging ring l? having two wedging surfaces f1 and on its inner edge. The wedging outer surface ,f1 is complementary to the we'dging rib L of the rim and adapted to Contact therewith and the inner wedging surface f2 is'adapted to eo-act with the complementary wedging surface c provided on the. felly band o", that is. the felly band instead of being cylindrical throughout its periphery, except for the wedging' circumferential projection a, as inthe forni shown in ljig. 2, is provided on its oppositoedge with this wedging surface a with which the ring l41 is adapted to cooperate to hold the. tire rim in position, otherwise the action of this device is the same as that shown in Fig. In this` .forni of my invention I have shown a modiied form of ring clamp G. mounted upon a clamping bolt H. The bolt 'projects through the felly of the wheel andi; is provided on its outer end with a clampin'f'g nut h1 and on the opposite end with a lidad 71k. upon the body of the bolt beneath the nut and its outer end g1 isadapted to contact with the lling l` to hold the ring in its posi-,

The clamp G is mountedI riphery of the Wedging ring F and the clamp is thereby held against rotation at the time that the nut is being operated to torce the ring F between the telly and the rizn.

l claim: A

l. A transplit demountable rixn having, upon its inner periphery, two parallel circumferential ribs, said ribs presenting inner sides which are substantially perpendicular to said periphery, in combination with a rim end..connecting member' upon and bridging the split in said rinl, positioned between and alining the perpendicular walls of said ribs and forming a detachable connection between the ends of the rim.

2. An integrally lianged obliquely transplit, dexnountable rim having upon its inner periphery two parallel circumferential ribs, said ribs presenting inner sides which are substantially perpendicular to said periphery, in combination with a rim-endconneet ing-and-alining member, said member bridging the split in the riin and being positioned between said perpendicular walls of the ribs andl forming a detachable connection bei tween the rim ends at said split.

3. An integrally flanged, transplit dei' mountable rim having upon its inner periphery two parallel circumferential ribs, pre

senting inner sides which are substantially perpendicular to said periphery, in Combination With a. iri1n-endconnecting-and-aliningk member, said member bridging the split in y the rim and being positioned betweensaid perpendicular Walls of the ribs and forming a detachable connection between the rim ends at said split, and said member and one of said rim ends containing a Valve stem,

opening. 

